Page 391 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2020. Konservatoriji: profesionalizacija in specializacija glasbenega dela ▪︎ The conservatories: professionalisation and specialisation of musical activity. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 4
P. 391
socio-political discourses of the development of music education ...
Let us briefly overview professional biographies of the first piano
teachers and their pianistic upbringing, in order to show which pianistic
traditions they were representing:
Emil Hajek (1886–1974) was a pianist of Czech origin from Aus-
tria-Hungary. He graduated from the Prague Conservatory in 1908, un-
der the tuition of prof. Josef Jiránek (1855–1940); he also studied organ and
composition with Antonín Dvořák. His piano teacher Jiránek was the dis-
ciple of Karel Smetana, brother of Bedřich Smetana, who continued his
studies in Kharkov (nowadays in Ukraine). Jiránek favoured the reper-
toire of Czech composers, especially Smetana, while his pianistic style was
shaped by his Russian training; he passed on this pianistic tradition onto
his students, including Hajek. After graduating in Prague, Hajek continued
his piano study in Berlin. Between 1909–1921 he taught piano and cham-
ber music at Saratov and performed as piano accompanist to Jan Kubelik.
He moved to Belgrade in 1928, where he became the director of the Music
school “Stanković”, which he elevated to the level of the conservatory. As
asserted by Katarina Tomašević:
The arrival of the Czech pianist Emil Hajek [Hayek] […] represent-
ed a turning point. With Hayek, whose name was widely recog-
nised in Europe, Belgrade got a complete musician, who had al-
ready achieved a successful concert career […] Hayek had been
the Rector of the Saratov conservatory for eleven years, where he
achieved fame as a piano professor. After taking up the position
as head of the piano department in “Stanković”, he took several
key steps: he founded the Concert Department; harmonised mark-
ing criteria with the European ones; […] and reformed the curric-
ulum, encouraging the introduction of a contemporary Slav and
especially national repertoire. Setting a personal example to col-
leagues, he actively staged solo concerts, accompanied prominent
foreign guests and collaborated with other musicians in chamber
music concerts.26
From 1937 until 1963 Hajek was a full professor and Head of the piano
department at the Music Academy of Belgrade, utilizing his vast pedagog-
26 Katarina Tomašević, “Musical Life in Serbia in the First Half of the 20th Century:
Institutions and Repertoire,” in Serbian and Greek Art Music: A Patch to Western
Music History, ed. Katy Romanou (Bristol/Chicago: Intellect Books, 2009), 45–46.
389
Let us briefly overview professional biographies of the first piano
teachers and their pianistic upbringing, in order to show which pianistic
traditions they were representing:
Emil Hajek (1886–1974) was a pianist of Czech origin from Aus-
tria-Hungary. He graduated from the Prague Conservatory in 1908, un-
der the tuition of prof. Josef Jiránek (1855–1940); he also studied organ and
composition with Antonín Dvořák. His piano teacher Jiránek was the dis-
ciple of Karel Smetana, brother of Bedřich Smetana, who continued his
studies in Kharkov (nowadays in Ukraine). Jiránek favoured the reper-
toire of Czech composers, especially Smetana, while his pianistic style was
shaped by his Russian training; he passed on this pianistic tradition onto
his students, including Hajek. After graduating in Prague, Hajek continued
his piano study in Berlin. Between 1909–1921 he taught piano and cham-
ber music at Saratov and performed as piano accompanist to Jan Kubelik.
He moved to Belgrade in 1928, where he became the director of the Music
school “Stanković”, which he elevated to the level of the conservatory. As
asserted by Katarina Tomašević:
The arrival of the Czech pianist Emil Hajek [Hayek] […] represent-
ed a turning point. With Hayek, whose name was widely recog-
nised in Europe, Belgrade got a complete musician, who had al-
ready achieved a successful concert career […] Hayek had been
the Rector of the Saratov conservatory for eleven years, where he
achieved fame as a piano professor. After taking up the position
as head of the piano department in “Stanković”, he took several
key steps: he founded the Concert Department; harmonised mark-
ing criteria with the European ones; […] and reformed the curric-
ulum, encouraging the introduction of a contemporary Slav and
especially national repertoire. Setting a personal example to col-
leagues, he actively staged solo concerts, accompanied prominent
foreign guests and collaborated with other musicians in chamber
music concerts.26
From 1937 until 1963 Hajek was a full professor and Head of the piano
department at the Music Academy of Belgrade, utilizing his vast pedagog-
26 Katarina Tomašević, “Musical Life in Serbia in the First Half of the 20th Century:
Institutions and Repertoire,” in Serbian and Greek Art Music: A Patch to Western
Music History, ed. Katy Romanou (Bristol/Chicago: Intellect Books, 2009), 45–46.
389
